Author and Activist

Geetu* is fragile, a tiny birdlike creature who could be broken if she were hugged too fiercely. Except she was broken not by love but by a man who would sweep her into his arms and throw her on the bed or on the floor or against furniture in a fit of rage. She learned to protect her head with her hands as she came crashing down. A small woman with a big story, hailing from the wide open spaces and stunning views of the highest part of the Himalayas: Nepal. Because she is from there, the British state’s calculated policy of creating a ‘hostile environment’ for migrants with its battery of immigration rules meant that she didn’t get the protection from male violence that other women can expect.